Book Review: Smart Women Break Free
July 16, 2008
I remember the old days when my mother went through ‘the change’. It was a mysterious time when our whole household was in flux, and everyone knew to stay out of my mother’s way. My thoughts about midlife and retirement were created in that chaos.
At twenty, I thought it would be a sad time filled with frustrations, just a lonely waiting period until death. At the ripened age of 46, things look a lot different. I made the mind-shift on my own, but I’m glad there are books like Smart Women Don’t Retire- They Break Free to guide others.
Life After 50
Transitions can be tough and this book aims to help women recognize their needs and create a smoother path into the next phase of life. Filled with many personal stories and qoutes, Smart Women helps women understand why the journey is different for them than their mothers or men, where the obstacles might be and how to overcome them.
Smart Women walks the reader through the various issues in making the transtion from full time work to full time living. One of the best suggestions was taking a ‘gap year’ to explore your future options, a concept most recently applied to college graduates. The worksheets that are included in the text invite you to think about your own life and how to apply the principles to creating your own dream transition.
The Transition Network
Best of all, you don’t have to make the trip alone. The book is written by Gail Rentsch, one of the founders of the Transition Network . The Network seeks to answer questions about retirement and create a ‘bridge of transitions’ from work to volunteerism, from isolation to community for women over 50. It’s a robust community of women who share blogs, peer groups even job listings and converse on a range of topics like finance, travel and diversity.
Get the Book!
You can read an excerpt from the book here. If you or someone you know is preparing to retire, don’t miss this book or the Transition Network.
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